T
here now, that’s a good lass. Wake up, dear.”
Daisy was warm. Warm and heavy of limb. It felt wonderful. The thought formed, and then confusion chased it away. Beyond her dark cocoon came the comforting sound of tinkling water, like that of a bath being drawn. Where was she? Who was that crooning? And what had happened… Her eyes flew open on a gasp. The flickering light of gas lamps wavered above her. She caught a glimpse of mahogany paneling before a woman’s face came into view, wrinkled and kind, a gray halo of hair about her head.
“Easy, lass.” The woman clasped Daisy’s shoulder.
Daisy blinked down at her shoulder and realized that she was naked. Swaddled in eider down, but naked. “Where…” She swallowed. “What…” Her throat closed.
The elder woman gave her a little pat and then turned to adjust the taps on the enormous copper tub sitting in the center of the room. A man’s bathing room, with velvet brocades and a silver shaving kit gleaming on a nearby
table. A masculine fragrance of wool, linen, and vetiver lingered in the warm air.
“You’ve had a terrible fright, I suspect.” The woman closed the taps and dipped a hand in the water to test it. Neither plump nor thin, the woman’s frame was sturdy. “Just right.”
The woman looked Daisy over. “You’re in the Marquis of Northrup’s home. His Lordship found ye and brought ye here.” She moved to Daisy’s side and gave her a kindly smile. “I was of a mind to wake ye before I got you in the bath. Bit of a nasty shock to be awakened by a bath, eh?” The woman’s eyes went soft. “Ye need cleaning up, lass.”
Daisy followed the direction of the woman’s gaze and saw her hair cascading around her naked shoulders in a red tangle of dried blood. So red it reminded her of her sister Poppy’s hair, and then she remembered. “Oh, God…” Her breath came in dry pants, the urge to gag, to scream making her shake. “That thing… my… friend…”
Her pants became rasps, and the woman wrapped a strong arm about her. “Hush, child, hush. You’re safe.” Work-worn palms soothed her arms. “Ease yerself before you become ill.”
Like a child, Daisy let herself be led to the bath. The water was blessedly hot, smelling of lavender and chamomile, and Daisy let out a sigh. The woman smiled in satisfaction before reaching for a pitcher and a bar of soap. “Let’s get ye clean, then.” Her movements were brisk, and Daisy relaxed under the efficiency until the woman hit a spot at the back of her neck. She hissed at the sting and reached up to feel a row of punctures in her skin. A violent shudder wracked her body.
“It bit me,” she whispered. She did not want to
remember what
it
was. Her insides lurched and swayed, and she swallowed convulsively.
“Let me have a look.” Gentle fingers probed the wounds. “ ’Tis not very deep,” the woman said soothingly as she washed it clean. “ ’Twill heal in a tic, to be sure.” Even so, the woman got up and came back with a jar of ointment. Her fingers were strong and sure as she smeared the pungent stuff on Daisy’s neck.
The sting receded, and Daisy relaxed a bit more. “What is that?” she asked.
“An old recipe. Helps speed the healing.” She sat back down behind Daisy and took up washing her hair. “I’m Mrs. Tuttle,” the woman said. “You may call me Tuttle if ye like.” She let out a short laugh. “I havena been called anything else in an age.”
Daisy stared at the small coal fire glowing at the other end of the room. “I’m Daisy.”
The sound of her own name felt wrong. She felt wrong. Numb.
“Would you send word to my sister?” The sudden need to see one of her sisters was almost painful. Poppy, however, would ask too many questions and make her feel like a goose for recklessly attending a party with the fast crowd. No, she needed Miranda, who would offer comfort without judgment. Her voice cracked when she spoke again. “She is Lady Archer.”
“Of course, dear. I’ll send a messenger out directly.”
Strong fingers massaged Daisy’s scalp, and creamy cascades of foam slid over her breasts and arms, the foam pink with old blood. In the dim of the elegant dressing room, she could almost believe the blood to be a trick of light. Only it wasn’t. Bile rose in her throat. She drew her knees up and closed her eyes to the sight.
“Tuttle? The…” She licked her dry lips. “The man?”
Tuttle’s movement stilled for only a moment. “Passed on.” She crossed herself and then picked up the pitcher.
Warm water eased over Daisy’s head as she squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t even remember his name.” Her mouth trembled. She’d only been looking for a bit of amusement, harmless pleasure. She felt sick to her soul.
Tuttle made a soft sound. “ ’Tis a terrible business, ma’am. Bless the Lord that yer unharmed.”
Daisy curled into herself as another round of water flowed over her, taking the gore away. “And Alex.” She swallowed down bile. “Alex was my friend.”
Tuttle washed her with neat economy and then gently helped her to her feet to wrap a thick towel about her. The quiet movements were oddly comforting, and when Daisy was settled again on the green-velvet settee, she felt a bit more clearheaded. Unfortunately, it also led her to realize that she’d let Tuttle see her unclothed. Unease tightened the muscles on her back. She glanced at Tuttle. The light was dim here, and Tuttle hadn’t remarked on anything. So perhaps she hadn’t seen.
Daisy adjusted the towel higher up her back as Tuttle handed her a glass of brandy. “The master sent this for you. It ought to be whiskey, but he thought that might be too strong for ye.”
Daisy took a sip of brandy as Tuttle bustled about. Liquid fire melted the ice in her belly, and her thoughts turned to her kind host. She couldn’t recall meeting Lord Northrup. Then again, it had been a year since she’d been out in society, and she hadn’t run in such lofty circles. Names, titles, and faces filtered through her mind, and she finally remember that the Marquis of Northrup was
an old title belonging to some lord in Scotland for at least sixty years now. The man must be ancient.
Tuttle came near, holding up a rather flashy dressing gown of celadon green satin. The color would suit her sisters but most likely make Daisy look peaked. However, as it was that or go around swathed in a towel, Daisy slipped it on. Unfortunately, the garment, which smelled of cheap violet water perfume, puddled on the floor, the arms of it flopping far past Daisy’s hands. Made for a woman of Miranda’s stature too, Daisy thought grimly as Tuttle helped her hook up the front. The hooks strained over her breasts, and Daisy grimaced at the ill fit. Lord Northrup, the randy old goat, apparently favored tall redheads who wore harlot’s perfume.
Ian fiddled about with the decanters on his drinks table. He’d already poured himself a measure of scotch and had no real purpose for pulling out the random crystal stopper only to put it back in. With a sound of disgust, he pushed away from the sideboard.
The woman was above, getting bathed by Tuttle. If he closed his eyes, he could hear the gentle tinkle of water and smell the fragrance of his bath soap enveloping her.
He blew out a breath and plopped down in his chair by the fire. Grabbing his glass from the side table, he took a hearty swallow before scowling down into the amber liquid.
The woman. He had exactly one glimpse of her pale throat before Tuttle had shooed him away.
“I’m a physician,” he’d protested, when an implacable Tuttle had batted him back from undressing his patient.
“Oh, are ye?” Tuttle’s expression had been dubious. “I thought ye’d given that all up.”
Fine, he hadn’t practiced since 1865 but the knowledge was still there. “Cheeky woman, do not split hairs now. I’ve seen countless nude females in that capacity, and it doesn’t affect me in the least.”
“Aye,” Tuttle had snapped back. “An’ when ye can look at her with the detached politeness of a healer and not leer like some randy lad, I’ll let you examine her. Until then, out you go.”
This is what he got for treating his staff like pack instead of servants, and while he craved the close familiarity of others, now wasn’t one of those times. “Blast it, woman, I need to ascertain whether she is injured.”
“Ascertain, eh?” She shoved him toward the door. “Is that what you’re callin’ it now?”
With only a harried assurance from Tuttle that she’d check the lass for damage, he’d been banished from his own room as though he were some deviant incapable of basic professionalism.
A grumble sounded in his breast. Very well, he could admit that part of him had been looking at the woman with the interest of a man, and damned if he knew why. The poor thing had been covered in blood, and in all likelihood, was traumatized. That his breath had begun to quicken as his hands undid her top buttons suddenly made him feel small and wrong, a right cad.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered and took another long drink. The liquor sent a pleasant path of warmth down his throat and into his twitching gut. But it did not calm him. The silence in the library irritated the hell out of him. It struck him that silence was fast becoming his constant companion. Certainly he heard many things, talked to people on a daily basis, but on the inside he was alone.
Ian sank farther into his chair, and the twitchy, itchy
weight of his situation intensified. As he looked at the door, his ears pricked up at the sound of the woman’s tread coming down the main stair, and his heart kicked within his chest. A pleasant jump along with a tightening of his gut. Although he hadn’t felt the sensation in months, years really, Ian realized the feeling for what it was: anticipation.
A sense of the surreal settled over Daisy as Tuttle led her through Northrup’s elegant town house. She ought not be walking. She ought to be dead. That she lived, breathed, felt the slip and slide of silk over her legs with every step was at once so normal yet so abnormal that she almost laughed. Her friend was dead. And her own would-be lover? She was prepared to shag him, for really she couldn’t call it making love, and now the man—whose name she still could not remember—was gone, slaughtered.
Temptress of man. Harbinger of a man’s lust and destruction.
God help her, her late husband’s words rang too close to the truth. Were it not for her going into the alleyway with that poor man, he might still be alive.
Her heartbeat sped up as Tuttle opened the door to a cozy library and ushered Daisy forward. What had her rescuer seen? Her steps faltered because suddenly she resolutely did not want to know.
As soon as she stepped into the room, he rose up from the leather wing chair by the fire in one fluid move. His eyes narrowed, taking her in just as she studied him.
Her breath gave a little catch as she moved closer. Most certainly, this was not the elderly Lord Northrup, but perhaps his heir. Good God, but this man was beautiful. Distractingly so. His was a masculine beauty that
artists often replicated. Lean of face, saved from femininity by the sharp V of his jaw and the strength of his chin, with high cheekbones so defined they might have been cut from marble. Only his mouth was soft. Soft and mobile, the corners twitched as if wanting to smile.
However, there was nothing soft about his eyes. Deep set under dark brows that were currently slashed in a scowl, they pierced into her, their light color indistinguishable until she came close. A chuff of air escaped her. “Azure.”
One brow lifted a notch. “Pardon?” His voice was at once lilting and light, yet rough. Silk over gravel.
Daisy stopped and let her gaze travel from the tips of his polished shoes, over his lean form dressed to perfection, and up to those azure eyes that now danced with amusement. She would have remembered this man had she seen him before. “You are too pretty to be a noble.”
A bark of a laughter shot out, and Daisy felt a quirk of irritation. Damn her loose tongue.
Lord Northrup stepped closer, bringing with him the heady scent of vetiver and clean male. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called pretty before, lass.”
Very correctly, he caught up her hand and bent over it, his lips brushing her knuckles. His dark hair was the one wrong note in his otherwise flawless attire. It flowed in shining waves to the top of his shoulders. Barbaric. “If you’re not careful,” he said, “I’ll soon be blushing.”
Neither of them wore gloves, and his skin was dry and very warm. A stir of feeling wisped through her insides, and she fought the urge to back away. “I doubt that. I am certain you are quite used to such accolades.” She gave a careless shrug as she retracted her hand. “In truth, I should take care not to stand too close or risk being eclipsed by your splendor.”
He flashed a quick, practiced smile. “Oh, I don’t know.” He reached out and tugged a curl dangling by her cheek, the action making her insides jump. “You exude quite a shine yourself.”
No, she would not blush. Daisy never blushed. Not over a man’s attention. Yet her cheeks felt suspiciously warm as she turned away from him and wandered around the room. “Nonsense.”
He strolled near. “Ah, but sometimes speaking of nonsense is the best cure.” The gentleness in his tone made her heart skip a beat. He knew what she was about. He knew she strove to ignore the panic welling up like acid in her belly.
“Pay no mind to me, sir. There are times when my mouth and brain forget to hold a conversation.”
His mouth quirked, true amusement making him appear almost boyish. “Happens often, does it?”
Cheeky sot.
Daisy gave him a repressive look from over her shoulder, and he chuckled, clearly unperturbed by her annoyance.
“I see you are quite well, physically, at least. But let us sit.” Catching hold of her hand once more and ignoring her murmur of protest, he tugged her gently toward the settee by the fire. He folded his long length next to hers. “I’m intrigued. If not by beauty, how then does one spot the garden-variety nobleman?”
He was too close, his gaze too warm for her comfort. Sliding her clenched fists under the borrowed dressing gown, she shrugged.
“Easily,” she said. “One need only look for the promise of beauty not quite fulfilled, a nose too large, eyes a bit too close together, or ears ready to set sail.”
Northrup’s head snapped back, his eyes widening. “You, madam, are a snob.”